A cup and ring-marked stone was discovered in 1981, and has been dated to the late Neolithic or Bronze Age periods.

The boundaries of the ward include about half of the area that was historically known as Ecclesall Bierlow—one of the six 'townships' that made up the old Parish of Sheffield.

Ecclesall Bierlow encompassed most of the land between the River Sheaf and the Porter Brook from The Moor to Ringinglow.

There is no historical proof of such a boundary as Northumbria stretched deep within Lindsey and modern Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire at different stages between the 6th and 11th century.

What is thought to be the earliest historical record of this area refers to the submission of the local Northumbrian army to Egbert of Wessex and his invasion force at nearby Dore in 829.

The De Ecclesall family gave land to Norman and French monks who had come to Britain after the invasion.

In payment for the mill the monks of Beauchief were to provide a canon to say prayers daily at the Ecclesall chapel.

This changed with the coming of the industrial revolution and the subsequent expansion of nearby Sheffield and by 1831 the population had increased to 14,239.

Historic sites within the ward include Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and Shepherd Wheel (both now museums).

Banner Cross is a district of Sheffield centred on the intersection of Ecclesall Road and Psalter Lane.

Carter Knowle or Carterknowle (grid reference SK335843) lies south of Brincliffe Edge, between Ecclesall Road and Abbeydale.

Housing was built on former farmland there, in the valley between Brincliffe Edge and the upper part of Carter Knowle Road during the late 1950s / early 1960s by local building firm Gleesons.

The area was home to Sheffield College's Bannerdale campus, but after its closure and demolition, a new educational academy, the Mercia School was opened on the site adjacent to Carter Knowle Road in September 2018.

The Sheffield Supertram currently has no routes through Ecclesall ward, but a planned extension to Dore would skirt the southern boundary.